imported>Kashmiri: Kashmiri moved page Prakasa to Prakāśa over redirect: IAST spelling, as this is a technical term (IAST preferable to "prakasha")

2018-07-12T21:51:25Z

Kashmiri moved page Prakasa to Prakāśa over redirect: IAST spelling, as this is a technical term (IAST preferable to "prakasha")

New page

'''Prakāśa''' is a concept of [[Kashmir Shaivism]] translated by various authors as "light", "splendour", "light of consciousness" (identified with ''[[Śiva]]'')<ref>Vijñana Bhairava, The Practice of Centering Awareness, Swami Lakshman Joo, glossary</ref> (Swami Lakshman Joo), "luminous and undifferentiated consciousness"<ref>Triadic Mysticism, Paul E. Murphy, glossary</ref> (Paul E. Murphy) or "primordial light beyond all manifestations"<ref name="Shiva, Paul Muller-Ortega page 95">The Triadic Heart of Shiva, Paul Muller-Ortega, page 95</ref> (Paul Muller-Ortega). Fellow [[Tantra|Tantric]] practitioners [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhists]] practice [[Ösel (yoga)|Clear Light yoga]] based on a similar concept.

''Prakāśa'' is considered supreme, ultimate, unsurpassable, but as such it cannot be described as pure [[transcendence (religion)|transcendence]], because even though it is above all, it is still present in the manifestation, in every aspect of it. Thus ''prakāśa'' is said to be both transcendent and [[immanent]].<ref name="Shiva, Paul Muller-Ortega page 95"/>

==The prakāśa-vimarśa couple==
Uncreated light (''prakāśa'') is the essence of ''Śiva''. Its function is to illuminate, to make manifest. However, [[Kashmir Shaivism]] declares that the nature of ''prakāśa'' is "self apprehension", or, to reflect upon itself. "''If the supreme light were devoid of this free and spontaneous self-referential capacity, it would be powerless and inert''".<ref>{{IAST|Parā-prāvesikā, Kṣemaraja}}, sūtra 1</ref>''Prakāśa'' and ''vimarśa'' form a couple at the supreme level, identified respectively with [[Śiva]] and [[Śakti]].

==Related terms and synonyms==
Kashmir Shaivism accords a very important role to the concept of consciousness as light, so, repeatedly trying to describe this essentially undescribable experience, has given it a plurality of names:
* ''sphurattā'' - twinkling, spark
* ''ābhāsa'' - splendour, light, appearance, shining forth
* ''pratibhā'' - to shine upon, become clear or manifest, intuition
* ''{{IAST|sphuraṇa}}'' - glittering, sparkling
* ''ullāsa'' - light, splendour, bright

==Subjective experiences of prakāśa==
There is no way a personal experience of ''prakāśa'' could be fully conveyed into words, but mystics, both ancient and modern, have tried to do so, because such words carry a powerful spiritual charge. Some of the subjective attributes of the light of consciousness, in synthesis, are: "liquid", "blissful", "immaculate", "blinding", "enveloping" and "weightless". Here are but a few of the many accounts:

===Gopi Krishna===
[[Gopi Krishna (yogi)|Gopi Krishna]], in his first experience of the awakening of [[Kundalini energy|kundalini]] has experienced luminous manifestations he described as:
* "''a halo of light''",
* "''a stream of liquid light''",
* "''waves of light''" and
* "''a sea of light''"

===Jaideva Singh===
In his translation of ''{{IAST|Pratyabhijñahṛdayam}}'' uses such formulations :
* about consciousness : "''the perfect I-consciousness is full of light and bliss''"<ref>The Doctrine of Recognition: A Translation of {{IAST|Pratyabhijñahṛdayam, Kṣemarāja}}, Jaideva Singh, page 39</ref>
* about the spiritual heart : "''{{IAST|Hṛdaya}} is not the physical heart. It had been called {{IAST|hṛdaya}} because it is the center of reality. It is the light of consciousness.''"<ref>The Doctrine of Recognition: A Translation of {{IAST|Pratyabhijñahṛdayam, Kṣemarāja}}, Jaideva Singh, page 82</ref>
* the world as seen from the perspective of the liberated being - "''the world no longer appears as mere earth, but as clothed in celestial light''".<ref>The Doctrine of Recognition: A Translation of {{IAST|Pratyabhijñahṛdayam, Kṣemarāja}}, Jaideva Singh, page 29</ref>

===Ramakrishna===
A mystical experience of [[Ramakrishna]], representing a turning point for him :
* "''Everything vanished, as if there was nothing anywhere! And what was that I saw? A boundless, endless, conscious ocean of light;...; brilliant rows of waves were roaring towards me''" <ref>Kālī's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna, Jeffrey John Kripal</ref>

===Yogananda===
A few accounts of encounters with the uncreated light, by [[Yogananda]] :
* "''I saw a blinding light, enveloping my body and the entire room''"<ref>Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda, {{ISBN|81-902562-0-3}}, page 9</ref>
* "''a fluid piercing light streaming from every pore;...; my sense of identity was no longer confined to a body but embraced the circumambient atoms''"<ref>Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda, {{ISBN|81-902562-0-3}}, page 142</ref>
* "''I gazed at my arms and moved them back and forth, yet could not feel their weight; ecstatic joy overwhelmed me... the illusion of a solid body was completely dissipated, as my realization deepened that the essence of all things is light''"<ref>Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda, {{ISBN|81-902562-0-3}}, page 274</ref>

==={{IAST|Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa}}===
''{{IAST|Stavacintāmaṇi}}'' by ''{{IAST|Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa}}'' is an intensely devotional text of Kashmir Shaivism. Here are some quotes referring to the light of consciousness :
* Parameśvara ... "''blindingly shining in eternity''"<ref>{{IAST|Stavacintāmaṇi, Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa}}, sūtra 1</ref>
* Śañkara ... "''infinite light who's essence is the pure ambrosia''"<ref>{{IAST|Stavacintāmaṇi, Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa}}, sūtra 3</ref>
* Śiva ... "''you are the white-shining essence, origin of every intention, unchanged in each reincarnation''"<ref>{{IAST|Stavacintāmaṇi, Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa}}, sūtra 85</ref>

===Abhinavagupta===
A few selective quotes from [[Tantraloka]] of [[Abhinavagupta]]:
* "''By the means of the splendid light that shines in the immaculate heart, one obtains union with Śiva''"<ref>Tantrāloka, Abhinavagupta, sūtra 1.212</ref>
* "''The yogi who has had the experience of the great light enters into the condition of being of the nature of Śiva''"<ref>Tantrāloka, Abhinavagupta, sūtra 5.86-90a</ref>
* "''The consciousness is formed of light and beatitude''"<ref>Tantrāloka, Abhinavagupta, sūtra 6.78b-83a</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Kashmir Shaivism]]
[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Spiritual faculties]]
[[Category:Hindu tantra]]
[[Category:Tantric practices]]

Prakāśa - Revision history

imported>Kashmiri: Kashmiri moved page Prakasa to Prakāśa over redirect: IAST spelling, as this is a technical term (IAST preferable to "prakasha")